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Loveland News

Police chief: Better communication needed

This week's emergency illuminates the need for more social media utilization, Hecker says

By Jessica Maher

Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
03/07/2014 12:09:32 AM MST

Emergency notification basics:

Because notification paths can be overwhelmed in the event of an emergency when alerts are sent out, officials recommend that residents sign up to receive alerts in multiple ways. The Everbridge system is capable of calling landlines or cellphones, emailing or sending text messages. When a resident confirms that the message was received, the alert is not sent to other systems.

Traditional landline phone numbers are automatically in the system, but residents need to register their cellphones and email addresses at leta911.org. To create an account, click "emergency notifications."

Residents without computer access may call 962-2170 to check the status of their registration or change how they're contacted.

Located directly in the search area for an armed suspect who shot a police officer, Loveland resident Chris Kelly received an emergency notification around 10 p.m. on Sunday, advising that he stay in his home and lock his doors.

On Monday, having not received another alert or "all clear" message, Kelly said he started checking various city sources for more information — the website, city information line and city radio station — and was frustrated that he could not find an update.

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"I'm not looking for inside police information, but if there's an armed suspect on the loose in my neighborhood, I'd like an update every four hours or so," Kelly said Tuesday.

Need for Info Highlighted

The first update about the police officer shooting and suspect at large was posted Tuesday on the city website's main "news and announcements" page, regarding the fund that had been established for injured officer Garret Osilka.

Loveland public information officer Tom Hacker was out of the office on Monday and said that information about police cases is typically handled by public information officers in the police department. The subsequent updates on the city's website, including the Wednesday arrest of the shooting suspect, have derived from the police department.

"We've also been using the city's Facebook and Twitter feed to get information out, but that information originates with the police department," Hacker said.

The city's radio station, 1610 AM, is currently experiencing technical problems that have to be resolved before the city can rely on the connection, according to Hacker.

Police Chief Luke Hecker said Wednesday that the event has highlighted the need for a full time social media and public information position within the Loveland Police Department. Such a position is included in the department's 10-year staffing plan, and would replace the current system where public information duties are tacked on to sworn officers' current jobs.

Hecker said the department is looking to advance the public information officer position into the 2015 budget, with duties including maintaining up-to-date information on social media websites.

"I recognize that this is another area of opportunity for the police department," Hecker said.

Unlike Fort Collins police and the Larimer County Sheriff's Office, the Loveland Police Department does not maintain a Twitter feed or Facebook page.

"This illuminated even more powerfully that the community is hooked up to social mediums and has active to almost live-time information in a way that makes the police department need to catch up," Hecker said.

Post-event Analysis

City Manager Bill Cahill said he was not aware of how the city's sources of information such as the information line, 970-962-2020, were utilized during the emergency.

"We will wind up doing an after-action analysis and report and those kind of issues are the things that come up," Cahill said.

The city's primary way to get information out in emergency situations is through the Everbridge emergency notification system, which was also utilized in the 2013 flood.

"I live in the area that received the Everbridge notification, so I know that system worked, and that's the best way to make sure we can affirmatively get the message out right away," Cahill said.

Thousands of notifications between Loveland and Fort Collins went out on Sunday and Monday to people residing in areas affected by police activity. But the emergency notification is not meant to provide frequent case updates, Hecker said.

"Really for the sake of being practical, we would send a message as an initial alert and generally would send a second message that would lift the alert," Hecker said.

Kimberly Culp, executive director of Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority (LETA), which sends out the alerts, said that follow-ups were sent on Sunday and Monday when identified areas were cleared by police.

But some — including Kelly — reported receiving the first call but not the second. That can happen when notification paths become overwhelmed, Culp said, adding that LETA will take a deeper look into the call flow and whether systems had been impacted.

"What we encourage people to do is sign up multiple devices, multiple communication paths so if we can't reach you on the landline, we can call your cellphone," she said. "At the end of the day, we just need to reach you."

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